1st Abortion Drop Reported Since `69

ATLANTA — The National Centers for Disease Control reported Sunday a decline in the number of American women having abortions, the first decrease since federal abortion surveillance began in 1969.

The agency also said the abortion rate among teenagers continues to decrease.

In its surveillance summary, the agency reported that in 1983, the most recent year for which statistics are available, there were 1,268,987 reported legal abortions, 34,993 fewer than the 1,303,980 the previous year.

``This is the first time since 1969 that the number has decreased from the previous year,`` the agency said.

The national abortion rate decreased from 24 abortions per 1,000 women ages 15 to 44 in 1982 to 23 per 1,000 women in 1983.

``The abortion ratio also decreased, from 354 abortions per 1,000 live births in 1982 to 349 per 1,000 live births in 1983,`` it said.

No explanation was offered for the decrease, but the agency did say that the number of legal abortions reported in both years ``was probably lower than the number actually performed.``

It said that in 1982 its abortion numbers, based on information from state health departments, was 17 percent lower than those reported by a private firm (the Alan Guttmacher Institute) that conducts direct abortion surveillance.

For the two years, California reported the most abortions, 209,481 in 1983, followed by New York, 154,712 with 100,322 in New York City.

``The abortion rate ranged from 6 abortions per 1,000 women in West Virginia and Wyoming to over 100 in the District of Columbia,`` the agency reported.

Teenagers had 29.2 percent of all abortions in 1980, 28 percent in 1981, and 27.1 percent in 1982 and 1983.

``For both racial groups (black and white) approximately three-fourths of the women obtaining abortions in 1982 and 1983 were unmarried,`` the agency reported.

Of the states reporting legal abortions by race and age group, two-thirds of the women having abortions were white.